The California Legislature made modest gains on housing production and stimulus bills in 2020, and there are several notable bills that took effect on January 1, 2021. The new laws tackle COVID-19, project permit streamlining and planning, residential density bonus, and the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). Below is a summary of these new laws. Continue Reading
NY Court of Appeals Decides Who Gets Access to Required “Open Space”
This past week, in a 4 to 3 decision, New York’s highest court – the Court of Appeals – decided an important New York City land use question regarding how “open space” is accessed by residents on a zoning lot with multiple buildings In the Matter of Randy Peyton, et al v. NYC Board of Standards and Appeals, et al. This rollercoaster ride ended with the Court of Appeals overturning the First Department, Appellate Division’s decision, and ultimately agreeing with the NYC Department of Buildings original application of the law, which was affirmed by the quasi-judicial NYC Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA). The Court of Appeals determined that open space available for use by residents of one building, such as a rooftop garden, does not need to be accessed by residents in other buildings when the buildings are part of a single zoning lot in order to satisfy zoning “open space” requirements, putting to rest this controversial question. Continue Reading
City Planning Announces Citywide Hotel Special Permit Text
Posted in New YorkThe New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) has scheduled a public scoping meeting for Friday January 22, 2021 for the Citywide Hotel Text Amendment. The Citywide Hotel Text Amendment seeks to establish a new City Planning Commission special permit for new and enlarged transient hotels, motels, tourist cabins, and boatels in districts where such uses are currently allowed as-of-right, including C1, C2, C4, C5, C6, C8, Mixed-Use (MX), and paired M1/R districts. The new hotel special permit would require new hotels and other transient uses to go through ULURP, the city’s land use review process. The proposed text amendment would retain existing regulations for hotels in M1 districts where a special permit was previously adopted in December 2018. The draft scoping materials state that DCP is also evaluating changes to the Zoning Resolution’s discontinuance provisions for existing commercial hotels in all zoning districts citywide, to consider allowing hotels that are currently closed due to conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic to retain their legal transient use status, as-of-right, until after demand recovers. Continue Reading
NYC Council Announces Land Use Overhaul
The New York City Council, under Speaker Corey Johnson, announced this week the release of a proposal for “A New Comprehensive Planning Framework for New York City,” to support equitable, inclusive growth, and citing the City’s current “planning framework, or lack thereof, [as being] inherently flawed.” The report was released in tandem with legislation introduced by Speaker Johnson at the Council’s December 17 stated meeting (Int 2186-2020), requiring a 10 year comprehensive planning cycle. Continue Reading
Southern District of New York Upholds New York City Council COVID-19 Tenant Protection Ordinances
Posted in CoronavirusOn November 25, 2020, Judge Ronnie Abrams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision in Melendez, et al. v. The City of New York, et al. (No. 20-CV-5301 (RA) upholding amendments to certain New York City Council ordinances prohibiting landlords from harassing residential and commercial tenants impacted by COVID-19 and preventing landlords from enforcing personal guaranties in commercial leases if the tenant’s monetary default was caused by the pandemic. Continue Reading
Federal Judge Blocks Eviction Moratorium Challenge by Los Angeles Apartment Owners
Posted in Coronavirus, Los AngelesCity of Los Angeles apartment owners recently lost their bid in Federal Court to halt the application of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s eviction moratorium[1] and rent freeze ordinance[2] (the “City Moratorium”). Senior United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson ruled on November 13, 2020 that the apartment owners had failed to show “irreparable harm” because (a) there was no immediate threat of foreclosure, and (b) the City Moratorium appeared to be “imminently reasonable” in the context of the unprecedented pandemic.[3]
Regional Stay at Home Order Implemented in California
Posted in CoronavirusLate last week, in an effort to control the increase of COVID-19 cases and stabilize the overwhelming hospital systems,[1] California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new Regional Stay At Home Order (December Order) based on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed capacity. Under the December Order, if the available ICU capacity dips below 15% in any of the 5 designated regions, said region will be placed into a stay-at-home order. Such order will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. following the day the region hits the ICU threshold, and will continue until the region’s total available adult ICU bed capacity is greater than or equal to 15% projected over 4 weeks. If the December Order is in effect in a region, it supersedes any conflicting terms in other California Department of Public Health order, directive or guidance. Once the stay-at-home order lifts for any impacted region, the December Order will no longer apply and each county in said region will be assigned to a tier based on the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Continue Reading
California Property Tax Changes to Parent-Child Exclusion
Posted in TaxRecently passed Proposition 19 will seriously limit the ability to transfer California real property to a child without causing a reassessment and higher property taxes. The new law takes effect February 16, 2021, so if you want to and are able to take steps to preserve this benefit it is important that you act immediately. Continue Reading
Los Angeles County Restricts In-Person Dining Due to Surge in COVID-19 Cases
Posted in CoronavirusDue to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (“L.A. Public Health”) announced that all outdoor and indoor dining at restaurants, breweries and wineries will be restricted, effective November 25, 2020 at 10:00 p.m., while take-out, drive thru, and delivery services may continue (“Order”). Continue Reading
SCOTUS to Consider Whether California Unconstitutionally “Takes” Private Property When It Compels Employers to Grant Union Access to Private Property
When it comes to whether unions have a right to enter an employer’s premises over the employer’s objections, California’s law is the polar opposite of the National Labor Relations Act and the law in most other states. In California, unions generally have special access rights that nonlabor parties do not have. Unions are given preferential treatment because of the state’s union-friendly public policies. However, this may soon change due to the Supreme Court’s recent order granting a hearing in Cedar Point Nursery et. al. v. Hassid where the issue presented is: Continue Reading
